The use of optical fibers has become more and more dominant in the telecommunication field. This results in a growing number of optical fibers that must be handled—such as spliced, connected, and distributed—and therefore systems for the management or organization of optical fibers are used to a growing extent. It is desirable to have an optimum organization of the fibers, and thus the ability to make modifications and changes in a controlled manner. These changes should preferably be carried out so that if at all possible only those optical fibers that have to be changed and modified are moved, while all other optical fibers essentially remain untouched so that undesired disturbances are avoided.
These arrays of cassettes have to be in some way mounted onto a modular optical distribution frame or rack, such as a 48.3 cm (19 inch) rack. For this purpose they are often built into housings that are provided with some kind of an opening mechanism such as a door. In some cases the housings are arranged so that they can be rotated and then opened. This is particularly the case for the commonly used arrays of cassettes which are placed on rails or racks so that they can be flipped like pages of a book, as described in WO 95/07481 and WO 94/23324. In all these cases it is necessary to open some kind of a door in order to access a single cassette. In case of placing the array of cassettes into housings some kind of a door needs to be opened in order to access a single cassette. In other cases the array of cassettes may stand by themselves or are placed onto a rack or inserted into a splice. This is also the case for arrangements as described in WO 95/09375, WO 95/07486 and FR 2 789 497. It would thus be desirable to provide a cassette array, and an individual cassette, that provide a configuration, which as far as possible would permit access to an individual cassette without disturbing the remaining cassettes and fibers in the configuration.